I have a brain fart that the medical community calls an Arnold Chiari Malformation. After decompression surgery in 2006, my brain is learning to coexist peacefully with my spinal cord in the cramped quarters of my spinal canal. With a real hole in my head, I am now free to continue the pursuit of life, liberty, and good coffee -- between headaches, nausea, dizziness, and seizures, of course!

"We're in the middle of a serious financial crisis. Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic. Ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession." -- G.W. Bush

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong." -- John McCain

"The top of our economy is broken." -- John McCain

"This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments." -- Barack Obama

With the current economic situation heading further down the fast track to disaster with each passing day, is it any wonder that I'm feeling the need to change my name to Chicken Little?

Last night we had a dinner party with friends and in-laws at my house. After everyone had finished eating, four of us ladies went outside to look for ripe guavas that might be hiding on the tree in the front yard. Because we got caught up in conversation, we stayed outside long enough that everyone else began to wonder where we had gone. So in search of the missing guava party, my niece, Basma, came out to look for us. Just as she opened the front door, she saw something underneath my car and went to inspect it. The something turned out to be a very tiny kitten, no more than 4 weeks old!

How such a small kitten ended up in my driveway and under my car, we couldn't figure out. Thinking that there might be other tiny kittens wandering around in my yard, we grabbed flashlights and looked for them or at least a mother cat that was missing one of her babies. No luck -- we couldn't find anything. No other cats around anywhere.

This isn't the first time that kittens have "mysteriously" shown up in my yard, though, and when I brought the tiny bundle into the house, Ali reminded me that I run the "cat welfare society of Orange County." My big cats, all four of them, were completely freaked by the unexpected dinner guest, so we put her in Iman's room for the time being.

Looks like I now have five cats. Meet Camry, the kitten who came for dinner last night!

". . .the dangers incident to a representative democracy are of two kinds: danger of a low grade of intelligence in the representative body, and in the popular opinion which controls it. . ." --John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

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Anita Van Cise Willett, 1939-1976

Address in the Stars

I stumbled across your old picture todayI could barely breatheThe moment stopped me coldGrabbed me like a thiefI dialed your numberBut you wouldn't be thereI knew the whole timeBut it's still not fairI just wanted to hear your voiceI just needed to hear your voice

What do I do with all I need to say?So much I want to tell you every dayOh it breaks my heartI cry these tears in the darkI write these letters to youBut they get lost in the blue'Cause there's no address in the stars

Now I'm driving through the pitch black darkI'm screaming at the sky cause it hurts so badEverybody tells me all I need is timeThen the morning rolls in and it hits me againAnd that ain't nothing but a lie

What do I do with all I need to say?So much I want to tell you every dayOh it breaks my heartI cry these tears in the darkI write these letters to youbut they get lost in the blue'Cause there's no address in the stars

Without you here with me I don't know what to doI'd give anything just to talk to youOh it breaks my heartOh it breaks my heartAll I can do is write these letters to youBut there's no address in the stars